Introducing America's new shortest flight – lasting just 16 minutes

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Lasting just 16 minutes, from take-off to touch-down, a new United Airlines service between San Francisco and Santa Rosa in nothern California's Sonoma County wine region is America's shortest scheduled flight.

Covering little over 100 kilometres (around 62 miles) and with a scheduled journey time of 45 minutes, the flight operates three times a week.

Vineyards in Santa Rosa in Sonoma County of California's wine regionCredit:
Getty

The American carrier's flight, however, is much longer (both in time and distance) than the current world’s shortest flight - offered by Scotland’s Loganair between the Orkney Islands of Westray and Papa Westray - which has a maximum scheduled duration of two minutes and covers a distance of about 2.7 kilometres (1.7 miles).

Earlier this year, the world’s shortest international flight, lasting eight minutes and spanning 13 miles, was axed following its launch last year. The service, operated by Austrian airline People’s Viennaline, between St. Gallen-Altenrhein in Switzerland and Friedrichshafen in Germany, was cancelled due to a lack of passengers.

Meanwhile, Greater Toronto Airways launched a new route from Toronto to Niagara last year which the Canadian airline claims is North America's shortest commercial flight, whisking passengers between the Ontario metropolis and the home of North America’s most famous waterfalls in just around 10 minutes.

The introduction of the Californian short hop follows United's launch of the world’s fourth longest flight (by distance) earlier this month - a new daily non-stop service between Houston and Sydney, which commences on January 18 next year.

The world’s longest non-stop flight was also launched earlier this year. Operated by Qatar Airways, from Doha, Qatar, to Auckland, New Zealand, the journey lasted 16 hours and 23 minutes.